


High School Hogwash

by imloopy



Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Gen, casefic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-07
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-10-24 02:35:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17695997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imloopy/pseuds/imloopy
Summary: When an author is found dead, Lucifer and Chloe go undercover at a high school reunion to investigate.This was my version of the High School Poppycock episode, written and published originally elsewhere while waiting for it to air.Posting it here now to keep the collection of my stories complete.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story was written in the hiatus between 3:14 and 3:15, as we eagerly awaited High School Poppycock. I took as inspiration the episode description and trailer and one or two spoilers floating around, and put together my own version of how the story might go.  
> This was my first long piece of fanfiction for years, and was incredibly fun to write.  
> Consider it part one of a two-part story/double episode - part two is Guardian Devil.

Beryl Mundell parked up and checked the time on her watch again: it was four minutes and thirty-five seconds before she was due to arrive. That would do nicely. She always had to arrive on time, never more than five minutes early, and heaven forbid she should ever be late.

   She collected her briefcase from the rear seat of the car, locked up and walked the few yards to Fabius Grand’s front door. It was a large property in the suburbs of LA, worthy of a best-selling author, and she nodded in approval. The man was unbearable at times, but he was managing to churn out novels with satisfying regularity, and coped with her edits better than some of the other authors she worked with, even though they had their regular fights over comma splices.

   The front door stood ajar and she frowned for a moment, unsure of the protocol, before ringing the bell anyway. A bell jangled inside somewhere, and she waited to hear movement, but the interior remained silent. All she could hear were the birds in the trees to the side of the property and kids shouting somewhere in the distance.

   “Hello? Mr Grand?” She pushed the door slightly, gaining a view of the long, elegantly decorated hallway. Now she could hear classical music playing somewhere deep inside the house, but still no one came to greet her. “I’ve come for our meeting.”

   Honestly, this was too much. The man had insisted on her visiting in person to discuss something important, but he couldn’t even be ready at the door when she arrived. Next time she would insist on communication by email only. At least then she wouldn’t lose half the day over it.

   Impatience overcame etiquette, and she pushed the door further open and stepped inside. “Hello?” The lack of response emboldened her, and she marched across the hallway, following the music back to its source. Through an open doorway, she spotted the corner of a desk. This looked promising. A few more steps and she was through the door and could see a large leather desk chair. On the desk stood a computer, the screen showing a composite image of all the covers from Grand’s books. Definitely his office then. But there was still no sign of the man himself.

   “Honestly,” she muttered under her breath. “Where the hell is he?”

   She took a step into the room, admiring the soft, luxury carpet. It had an odd pattern though; it took her a good minute to work out that the change in colour was actually a pool of blood. Then she peered around the corner of the desk, saw Grand sprawled there, his head strangely flattened, and screamed.

*

“So, Lucifer, did you manage to find out any more about Cain?” Linda settled back in her chair, prepared to listen to whatever information the devil had uncovered. Her life had become a lot more interesting since she had found herself as therapist to the devil himself, and this latest story, of the first murderer from the bible being alive and working as the lieutenant in the local police department under the pseudonym Marcus Pierce, was fascinating.

   “I have.” The tall, handsome devil with the charming English accent leaned forward, pouring himself a glass of water. At least he no longer pulled out his hip flask to fill the glass. She worried about his drinking habits. Or at least she had, until she learned that he really was immortal. “He wants to die.”

   “He’s suicidal?” That was worrying.

   “Not exactly. Well, yes, but that’s not the problem. The problem is that he can’t die.” Lucifer settled back on the couch, waiting for an appropriate reaction. His dark eyes glittered gleefully at her, and her mind flashed back to when she had seen his true face, that burned visage with the glowing red eyes. She shook the thought off. It had taken her a while to adjust to the idea that the metaphors were actually true, that he really was the devil himself, bored with Hell and now living in Los Angeles.

   “He can’t…” She paused, encouraging him to continue.

   “Yes, you see my father cursed him and had Amenadiel put a mark on him. And ever since, he’s been unable to die, however hard he tries.” Lucifer waved the glass around, threatening to spill the water. “I’ve tried a few times myself. And he and Amenadiel absolutely ruined my club last night, fighting.”

   “Really?”

   He nodded. “It appears he was trying to rid himself of some frustration over Amenadiel being the one to put the mark on him. You should have seen the place, Doctor. I made Amenadiel clean it up, but it took him hours, and there was an impressive amount of Pierce’s blood all around the place. And every time, he just keeps bouncing back to life.”

   “Rather like you do?”

   Lucifer stopped for a minute to consider that. “It’s not really the same at all, Doctor. I’m immortal. Well, as long as the Detective isn’t nearby, of course. Pierce is human, with human expectations. He dies, but just recovers from death. My family are celestials, and we’ve all existed for eons. I suppose Pierce, being stuck on earth, is just pissed off with everyone else dying around him.”

   His vulnerability when Chloe was near seemed a sore point with him, and yet it never stopped him spending time with her, working with her to solve crimes and punish evil. Linda suppressed a sigh. “And so what are you going to do?” She braced herself for what she suspected would be an irresponsible answer, as usual.

   Lucifer looked pleased with himself. “I’m going to kill him.”

   Linda felt a surge of alarm. “I thought you can’t kill a human.”

   “I’m not allowed to kill a human,” Lucifer corrected her. “So if I do, it guarantees that my father will disapprove and stop trying to make me into something I’m not.” He sat back, a smug look on his face.

   “Oh Lucifer.” Linda sighed heavily. She thought he had gotten over the anger at having his angel wings forced back onto him. “Are you sure it’s that simple? And how are you intending to kill him, anyway?”

   His face fell for a moment. “I haven’t quite figured out that one yet. But I’m determined to keep my word to him.” He flashed her one of those smiles that melted her somewhere inside and gave her the desire to rip his clothes off and…

   She dragged herself back to the present. Much as she missed those days, it was easier to treat Lucifer on a professional level rather than maintain a sexual relationship with him as well, and strangely, she felt she knew him more intimately these days by talking to him than when they were physically involved. And she was sure even Lucifer appreciated the friendship more than yet another conquest. “And how far are you prepared to go for him?” she asked.

   “Why, all the way, of course. Whatever it takes.” Lucifer took a long drink of water, and then placed the glass back on the table. But he had lost the glee he had shown a moment ago, and she frowned. He would tell her his concerns when he was ready. Until then, she just hoped he wouldn’t do anything stupid.

*

Pierce flicked through yet another of the folders on his desk at the precinct and sighed deeply. All the thousands of years he had spent alive, and he still hadn’t grown to love paperwork. He thought fondly of the time when life consisted only of working on his parents’ farm. It was his job to tend the crops, and his brother’s to look after the animals, and they got along just fine, until God had decided to pick sides. It was so unfair; all the evil people in the world, and he, who had merely killed his brother before he was killed himself, was the only person not allowed to die, but instead was doomed to walk the Earth forever.

   But then God had never been known for his wisdom and kindness.

   Pierce set the folder aside and picked up the smaller stack. This was what he really wanted to work on. Somehow, he still felt that Chloe Decker held the secret of the death he longed for so desperately. He had tried getting killed when she was there, and it had made no difference at all. Nor had Lucifer had any success in killing him, even with his demon daggers forged in hellfire.

   And yet Lucifer had become vulnerable when he was around her. There had to be a clue somewhere as to how it had happened.

   The smaller stack contained the first few cases that Lucifer had worked on with Chloe. Pierce flicked through them yet again. He knew that Lucifer had been shot and injured when working on the disappearance of Lindsay Jolson, the owner of the Players Club, but that hadn’t been their first case. He checked the earlier ones again, sure that he’d missed something.

   There. Their first case together. The singer, Delilah, had died in a hail of bullets, and Lucifer hadn’t been injured at all. But that made sense; after all, Chloe was nowhere near them at that point. But… he read through the rest of the case. Chloe had been shot herself, and when the police had turned up, Lucifer was sitting watching Jimmy Barnes bawling his eyes out in the corner of the room. But something didn’t make sense. Pierce checked the paperwork in the back of the folder. Barnes had emptied his gun, and yet the forensics team had not found all the bullet holes. And there had been some remark about Lucifer’s jacket - what was it?

   Pierce stared at the words in front of him. Bullet holes in the jacket. Lucifer had been shot, but not injured. And yet Chloe was right there. That didn’t make sense.

   Closing the folder, Pierce sat back in his chair, thinking hard. There had been a report in the Jolson file about Lucifer and Chloe attending a Players meeting. It had ended up as a bust because Lucifer had revealed they were cops, in the middle of explaining that Chloe wouldn’t sleep with him. But Lucifer had never had problems getting women to sleep with him - at least, not before Chloe.

   That had to be it. Lucifer was attracted to Chloe, and she was attracted to him. Before that, he had been immortal, but once that attraction existed, he had become vulnerable around her. It made sense as a working theory. But how could he use that?

   “Lieutenant?”

   He jerked, startled, and looked up to see the detective in question frowning at him. “Are you okay?”

   “I’m fine. You just startled me.” He hurriedly replaced the folder in the stack and tried to avoid glancing down at it.

   “Sorry. I just wondered if you’d heard anything about that meeting.”

   “Not yet. Chloe…”

   She stepped into the room, looking enquiringly at him.

   “Maybe I was a little hasty last night. About not going for that drink with you guys.”

   “Oh.” She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. I mean, it would have been good to have you along, I’d hate to think of you sitting on your own if you don’t have to be, but it’s up to you.”

   This was going to be harder than he had thought. “I was wondering… you were a great help on that case. Dealing with Lucifer, I mean. Perhaps we - I mean perhaps you - that is…” He took a deep breath. “Would you like to have dinner with me sometime?”

   Her gaze searched his face, and he could hear his own words echoing in his ears, _I’m not relationship material_. Then she nodded. “That would be good, thanks.”

   He relaxed slightly. They had shared a moment, in the surveillance van. There was a spark there between them. All he had to do was to allow it to catch fire, and maybe he would finally achieve the vulnerability he so desired.

   He hoped that Chloe wouldn’t be hurt in the process, but it was a risk he was prepared to take. After all, she would be dead soon enough anyway. One lesson he’d learned in all his years on Earth was that sooner or later they all died.

   All except him.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe is trying to solve a murder. Lucifer is trying to figure out how to kill Pierce. And Pierce is trying to figure out how to die.

Lucifer had been in the middle of research into methods of death when his phone rang. Not that he objected to the interruption; books weren’t really his style, he preferred action. But it appeared he was back among the books anyway. He wandered aimlessly around the room, ignoring the body lying in the middle of it, stepping carefully over the equipment left on the floor by the forensic team. “So this guy was some sort of writer?” He picked up a pile of papers that had been lying on the desk. “And he got paid for it?”  
   Chloe took the papers from him and placed them back down. “Fabius Grand was a bestselling author,” she said. “His series of books set in a fictional high school sell in their millions. He published a book every six months for the last eight years. And he was due to meet with his editor this morning. She found him like this and called us in.”  
Lucifer looked distastefully down at the body. “Bashed over the head with some sort of torture instrument?” A twisted lump of metal lay next to the head.  
   “It’s a typewriter.”  
   “That’s what I said. We would use those in Hell, to make writers type their work over and over, and every time it would make some random error so they would have to start the page all over again.”  
   The detective gave a nervous laugh, and Lucifer suppressed a sigh. She would never take him seriously, and he was torn between indignation that she refused to believe him and terror that if he should show her proof then she would run screaming. Instead, they had settled to this uneasy truce between them, where she seemed to accept him at his word but he never really felt confident enough to offer proof.  
   And of course the only proof he could offer her these days was those damned wings. He had tried to show her he was immortal, and he had bled when she shot him. He had tried showing her his devil face, only to look an idiot when it failed to show up. He was the devil; he was not going to show off angel wings, dammit!  
   “Massive head trauma, his skull was crushed like an eggshell,” Ella announced from where she knelt over the body, her dark ponytail bobbing behind her as usual. Lucifer wondered in passing why the forensic scientist never seemed as attuned to his charm as most other females. Perhaps it was because he was usually thinking of the detective when around Ella.  
   “Any other sign of injury?” Chloe leaned over her for a better look.  
   Ella shook her head. “He was hit from behind, I’d say from someone the same height or a fraction smaller, from the angle of impact.” She stood and continued taking photographs from every angle, before releasing the body to the coroner.  
   Lucifer indicated the middle-aged woman perched on the edge of a sofa in the adjoining room. “The editor, I take it?”  
   “Yes. We’ll talk to her in a moment, get a statement.” Chloe bent to help Ella pack her stuff.  
   “So, where are you going for your big date then?” Ella asked her.  
   Lucifer pricked up his ears. A date? He looked down at Chloe in alarm. He had worked hard to put things back how they used to be between them, just friends, but still she came to him in his dreams; still he harbored a secret hope that one day they would find a way to become more.  
   But at what cost? He had fought so long and so hard against his father. He couldn’t just give in peacefully now and accept the path laid out for him. And it wasn’t fair on the detective; after all, she had no idea that she had been created as a trap for Lucifer. As a gift, a small voice in his head suggested. He shook his head irritably. His father was a control freak, not happy unless everyone danced in step to his tune. Well, Lucifer was determined not to follow that dance. The gift wasn’t worth the cost. From his time with humans, he had learned how wonderfully chaotic free will could be. Of course, sometimes that chaos led to trouble, but it led to such great things as well.  
   “I don’t know, he said he’d surprise me,” Chloe answered, zipping up a bag. “He’s picking me up at eight. I don’t know what I’m going to wear. I’m just not used to the whole dressing up and going out thing.”  
   “So, you have a date?” Lucifer tried to sound casual. “Who with? Anyone I know? Or has Detective Douche decided to try again?”  
   The detective looked up at him and blushed. Lucifer frowned. Why was she reluctant to tell him?  
   “With the lieutenant,” Ella confided, bubbling with excitement. “Isn’t it great? One minute we think he’s going to leave, but now he’s all settled in to stay and he’s even taking Chloe out for a meal.”  
    _Cain was dating the detective._ Leaning against the desk, Lucifer asked, “How long has this been going on then?” What was he playing at? Wasn’t he supposed to be focused on finding a way to die?  
   “It hasn’t,” the detective said quickly. “Just tonight. If I’m not working, that is.”  
   “Are you sure that’s a good idea, detective?”  
   Chloe waved a hand in the air. “It’s a meal out, Lucifer, what’s your problem?”  
   “You don’t know what he wants from you.” Ideas were running through Lucifer’s head, none of them very pleasant.  
   “He wants a bit of company and maybe a friend,” Chloe answered.  
   Lucifer scoffed. “A friend? He’s got a friend. I’m his friend. And you really don’t want a relationship with him, detective, believe me.”  
   “Why not?” Chloe stood and squared up to him. “Lucifer, what’s your problem? Are you jealous?”  
   “Me?” He raised an eyebrow, trying to ignore the way his stomach twisted strangely. “Why would I be jealous? We’re just friends, remember? I’m merely looking out for your well-being.”  
   “Oh really? And what threat to my well-being do you reckon Lieutenant Pierce offers?”  
   Swallowing hard, Lucifer shook his head. “You wouldn’t believe me anyway, detective, so what’s the point in explaining?”  
   Chloe pushed her hair away from her face, in that endearing way that melted his heart. “How can you keep using that excuse, Lucifer? Why don’t you just try it and see?”  
   Lucifer took her by the elbow and led her over to the doorway, where they could talk without being overheard. “Detective, Pierce has a death wish, and he somehow believes you can help him die.”  
   Chloe pulled her arm away. “What the hell are you talking about, Lucifer? Pierce doesn’t have a death wish. I’ve talked to him. He’s a decent man, trying to do a good job, and he deserves a little relaxation sometimes. We all do.”  
   “Then he can come round to my place and I can throw a party for him,” Lucifer said desperately.  
   “Lucifer.” Chloe gave a deep sigh. “Your parties aren’t everyone’s idea of fun, remember. Pierce and I just want a quiet meal together.”  
   The words struck to his heart. Pierce and I. He felt sick at the thought of what Pierce might be up to. The only thing he knew for sure at this point was that it didn’t bode well for the detective, but he vowed to discover just what Pierce’s plan was.  
   He had promised that he would do everything in his power to find a way for the man to die. But he wasn’t prepared to sacrifice Chloe in the process.  
*  
Chloe turned from Lucifer and focused her attention on the editor. Beryl Mundell was her name; aged fifty, she had been working with Grand for the past four years, editing his books. But why would she be visiting him at home?  
   “Come on, let’s talk to the editor,” she said, and headed into the other room, sensing Lucifer on her tail as usual.  
   Beryl looked up as they entered the room. “I don’t even know why he wanted to see me,” she said, spreading her hands wide. “He called me, said he needed to speak to me about the next project, but I don’t normally work with him until he’s finished the first draft.”  
   “And he didn’t say anything at all to you about why he called you in?” Chloe leaned forward.  
   Beryl held out her phone. “Here, this is the email he sent me.”  
   Chloe took the phone and read the message out loud for Lucifer’s benefit. “Dear Beryl, I would be grateful if you could meet me at my home on Friday at 10am in order to discuss my next project. The matter is sensitive, and I would like your advice on how best to proceed.”  
   Beryl nodded.  
   “Do you know what his next project is?”  
   “If I could look at his computer, I could probably find the notes file that he would be keeping,” she said.  
   “Was it you who killed him?” Lucifer asked suddenly.  
   Beryl opened and closed her mouth, caught off guard. “Me? No! Why would I want to kill him?”  
   “Oh come on, having to work with these tedious stories? Surely you wanted something better than that,” Lucifer scoffed. He leaned towards her, and she shrank back a little. “What is it you really desire?”  
   Chloe shook her head in despair. She still hadn’t figured out how he worked that trick, but it seemed incredibly effective.  
   “I want… to write my own bestseller,” Beryl said.  
   Lucifer sighed in disappointment. “But instead you keep working with other writers, and they get the glory while you get all the tedious part of the creative process.”  
   Beryl nodded, seeming confused. “He could tell such a good tale,” she said. “The characters felt real. It was like I was back at high school myself. But when I was in high school I wanted to be a writer, and instead I’m here correcting people’s grammar and fixing their work.”  
   Chloe stood up. “Let’s go and look at his computer,” she said gently, a hand on Lucifer’s chest warning him that he had done enough for now. He acquiesced and stepped back, allowing them to walk through to the desk and computer. Beryl gave a wary look to the area on the other side of the desk, but the body had by now been carried away, and only a dark stain remained to show that something had happened.  
   Beryl sat down at the desk and wiggled the mouse, then poked around among the files. “Here it is,” she said. “The notes on his new story.” She looked up at Chloe. “They were all based on real events, you know. His books. He says - said - he changes things around, that you could never pin down who they were about, but the publisher had one or two people contact them to complain.”  
   “Really?” Chloe leaned forward, interested. If the books were based on real life events, then perhaps he was about to write about something that others didn’t want known.  
   “This file is just notes, really,” Beryl said, glancing back at the screen. “But it says here something about ‘It’s about time I told this story. I’ve told many others, but this is the one that’s driven me all my life. This is the story the rest have been building up to. I just hope I can do her justice.’ I don’t know what that means, though.”  
Chloe looked over to where Lucifer had picked up a book from the desk and was flipping through it. “Lucifer, focus.”  
   “I am, detective,” he assured her over his shoulder. “This man was really sad. No appointments in his diary at all, apart from meeting this lady. Oh, and something for tomorrow. But the rest of it is a monotony of dentist, meeting with publisher, car in the garage… how boring!” He put the book down again.  
   “Something tomorrow?” Chloe picked it up and thumbed through. “It might have something to do with his death.”  
   “I highly doubt it, detective.” Lucifer was studying a pinboard on the wall, where various pieces of paper hung at odd angles. “It appears he was visiting his old school.”  
   Chloe found the page. “A high school reunion?” she mused. “If his books were based on people he used to know, and he was gearing up to write a story he felt was important, perhaps someone there didn’t want him to write it.”  
   As they headed back out to the car, Lucifer was looking concerned. “Please, detective, reconsider your date with the lieutenant,” he said. “I’m worried about you.”  
   Typical Lucifer - jealousy disguised as mere concern for her safety. “Lucifer, it will be fine,” she said. “What have you got against the lieutenant, anyway? I thought you were getting along well together, especially since your ‘marriage’.” A sudden thought struck her. “Or is it Pierce you’re jealous of? You’re not…”  
   “No, no, no,” Lucifer reassured her, looking quite put out. “I’m just helping the lieutenant with something, that’s all. But it’s not wise for you to be involved, detective. Please. Pierce can be dangerous.”  
   Chloe opened the car door and got in, sighing deeply. “Lucifer, for the thousandth time stop worrying about me. I can look after myself, remember?”  
   He climbed in the car and sat silent all the way back to the station. Chloe looked over at him occasionally as she drove; he wasn’t usually this quiet. Whatever had gotten into him, it seemed to be really worrying him.  
   Sometimes she thought longingly of how simple life had been before she had started hanging out with a man who claimed he was the devil.  
*  
Lucifer slumped down in the car seat, sulking. This was getting hard. The detective had been working with him for over two years now; why couldn’t she just accept that he knew what he was talking about? Instead, she was just convinced that he was jealous.  
   He thought of Chloe and Pierce eating out together, maybe kissing. Maybe even being intimate. He shuddered. But to suggest that he was jealous? How silly. He was just concerned that Pierce might figure out some way to try killing himself, and in some way involve Chloe. He couldn’t bear the thought of her getting hurt. Physically or emotionally.  
   But if the detective was refusing to listen to his warnings - and there was no point in talking to Pierce, he wouldn’t listen - then all he could do was watch it play out, and ensure that he was around to pick up the pieces if necessary.  
   And if Pierce hurt Chloe, then by Hell he swore he would find a way to destroy him.

 


	3. Chapter 3

It was late afternoon at the precinct by the time all the work from the crime scene had been completed and they had processed the available evidence. It was at that point that Dan finally arrived. Chloe held back a sigh when she saw him. He had become so involved in his new union rep job that it had become irritating. She thought with a guilty start of how Pierce had refused her the job because it was for has-beens, and the pleasure she had felt when he had called her his best detective.

   “So, what do we know?” Dan asked. 

   Chloe indicated the board, to which she’d been adding information. “Not much so far. Author Fabius Grand was discovered by his editor at 10am today with his head bashed in by a typewriter. The meeting was to discuss his new novel, which was part of a best-selling series set in a high school. His editor says that he was concerned about his new idea.” She finished the pen-picture of the victim, and then added the name of the school he had attended.

   “So do we have any idea what this new idea was?”

   “Not really. But we do have one way forward.” Chloe indicated the evidence bag Lucifer was holding. “It appears he was heading out to a reunion tomorrow night. Maybe someone there will have some idea. It seems his characters were based on people he went to school with, and so it’s possible the storylines were too.”

   “So what sort of crimes go on at a high school anyway?” Lucifer asked, handing over the bag. “Murder? Extortion? Grand theft?”

   Chloe laughed uneasily. “What sort of high school did you go to?” she asked, and then hurried on at the expression on his face. Sometimes she felt desperate to know the truth about him; other times, she felt it was a box she dared not open. “It would make sense to talk to the people he knew, see if any of them have any idea what he might have been planning.”

   Ella came bouncing in. “His books are great, by the way,” she said. “I love them. His characters are just so real. I just can’t believe he’s dead and won’t be writing any more.”

   “Could you provide a summary of the plots he’s used in them, and the characters?” Chloe asked, and Ella nodded.

   “Good. I’m intending to take his latest books home tonight and have a read through.”

   Ella looked shocked. “But you were going out on a date with Pierce tonight!” she protested.

   Looking over her shoulder at Dan, Chloe took Ella’s elbow and pushed her back into the lab. “It’s not a real date,” she hissed. “It was just a meal out with a friend. And I can’t do that in the middle of a case.”

   “Of course you can,” Ella insisted. “And I told you there was a spark between you.”

   Was it that obvious? He was so completely different from anyone she had met before. There was a cloak of sadness over him, and a streak of steel that was well hidden but almost frightening. Chloe tried to shrug it off. “I think you’re imagining things,” she said, but Ella didn’t look convinced.

*

Pierce checked his reflection in the mirror once again before he left his home. He had tried his best to make sure Chloe would consider him presentable. After all, his nearest rival was Lucifer, with all his charm.

   And yet he had millennia of experience handling people, while Lucifer was new to dealing with any but the worst of humanity. And Chloe would definitely count as the best. 

   They arrived at the restaurant at about the same time, and he smiled in relief. She looked absolutely stunning as she walked towards him, and for once he found it impossible to remember a time in the past when he had felt this way.  _ Don’t be silly, _ he warned himself.  _ You know how this ends. You’ve been through this thousands of times. You feel this first rush of love, and then you feel comfortable with them, and then they grow old and die and you’re on your own again. It’s not worth the pain.  _ But a little voice inside him said,  _ wouldn’t it be ironic if your only hope for escape from this world turns out to be the only thing that would actually make it bearable to stay a while longer? _

   Chloe gave a shy smile as she reached him. They made awkward small talk for a few minutes, until they were seated and had placed their orders. Then, trying to put her at her ease, he asked her a few gentle questions about her life.

   Chloe seemed uncomfortable on any topic other than work, but eventually his charm started to work and she relaxed and told him a little about herself. She spoke of her father, and blushed when he mentioned her mother and her own venture into acting. He made light of it - no sense in embarrassing her - and the conversation moved on.

   Whether they discussed work or personal life, though, the conversation kept coming back to Trixie and Lucifer. Her daughter he could understand, but why was she so obsessed with Lucifer? 

   “So what do you make of Lucifer and the whole devil thing?” he asked in the end.

   Chloe looked uncomfortable. “I’m not sure,” she admitted. “Sometimes I find myself actually believing him, and then at other times it all seems ridiculous.” She seemed to dislike the topic, but Pierce pressed further, irritated at her vacillation. 

   “Aren’t you worried about Trixie, being friends with someone unstable enough to claim he’s the devil?” he asked in the end.

   Chloe blushed. “He’s not unstable,” she said. “He’s just - well, I’m not sure what he is. But I know he’d never hurt Trixie. Or me.” She looked down at the table. “Well, except when he rushes in and doesn’t think things through properly.” He guessed she was thinking about the Sinnerman debacle. She looked up again. “But he has my back,” she insisted. “And although he would never admit it, I think he’s got a real soft spot for Trixie.”

   Pierce conceded the topic, at least for the moment, and by the end of the meal they were chatting as though they had known each other for years, touching on every subject under the sun. It had been a long time since he had enjoyed someone’s company this much. It would be far too easy to fall for this beautiful woman. She was serious beyond her years, but still offered pleasant conversation and delightful company. And she seemed to enjoy spending time with him. He saw her into a cab and, just to test the waters, offered her a chaste kiss on the cheek. She responded by giving him a quick hug and a whispered “Goodnight, Pierce” before climbing in and settling into the seat.

   He walked away feeling that he had achieved his aim of encouraging her to fall for him, and maybe he had started to fall for her too. He felt a strange mixture of pleasure and guilt.

*

“So what are you sulking over?”

   Lucifer jumped at the voice. Deep in thought, sat in his penthouse apartment and staring unseeingly out at the sunset, he had not noticed her enter. “I’m not sulking,” he said. “I’m brooding. There’s a big difference, Maze.”

   She laughed and sank down in the seat beside him. “Brooding about what?”

   He thought about it for a moment, looking her up and down. “The detective,” he said at last.

   Maze threw her head back and laughed. “You’re still worrying over her?” she asked. “I thought she was old news.”

   “The lieutenant is taking her out for a meal tonight.”

   “And that bothers you?” Maze tilted her head to one side, watching him intently.

   It wasn’t worth lying. “Yes, it bothers me a little,” he admitted. “I don’t know what he wants with her. I don’t trust him.”

   “Then you should let them know,” Maze said firmly.

   “I should?”

   “Of course! Make it clear to them that they are upsetting you and they should respect your wishes and stop seeing each other.” Maze stood and began to pace, pulling out her blades and twirling them in her hands as she always did when worked up. “And if you want Chloe, then just take her. Why are you hesitating? You’re the devil. You take what you want and you always have.”

   Lucifer raised an eyebrow. While he appreciated her support, she was strangely upset on his behalf. “Maybe you’re right, Maze,” he said. “I was thinking it’s about time I told Chloe the truth about me anyway.”

   Maze whirled round towards him. “What? You’ve got to be kidding!” she said. “You’ll ruin everything!”

   “But I owe it to her,” he said, putting into words the nagging feeling that had been bothering him for weeks now. “It’s not fair that she doesn’t know what’s really going on. And the longer I leave it, the harder it’s going to be.”

   “Does it really matter?”

   “Maze, I’m sure she’ll be fine with it. After all, Doctor Linda accepts us.”

   “After the initial shock!”

   Lucifer rose to his feet and headed over to the bar, to pour himself another drink. “Besides, I think Chloe knows anyway.”

   “What? How?”

   He shrugged. “She’s told me she knows who I really am, that she accepts me.”

   Maze scoffed. “She might think she knows, but if you ever tell her the truth, you watch her turn on you. On us. No, Lucifer. You need to tell her and Pierce that they need to stop seeing each other. But she wouldn’t handle the truth about you. And what would you say anyway? That your daddy made her as a special girlfriend for you? What effect do you think that would have?”

   She stalked off towards the elevator, leaving Lucifer to slump back down on the sofa, deep in thought. Maybe Maze was right. Oh, not about Chloe’s reaction if he showed her who he really was, although he wasn’t sure he was ready to test that out yet. But maybe he should at least make it clear to her and Pierce that they didn’t belong together. Pierce had been hard to get hold of lately, having grown irritated with Lucifer’s slow progress - well, okay, let’s be honest here, complete lack of progress - but that was unfair. He would find a solution eventually. One that didn’t involve Chloe in any way at all.

*

When she reached her desk the next morning, Chloe was still glowing from the previous night. Pierce had been so attentive, so charming. And not one mention of wanting to have sex with her, unlike Lucifer.

   She gave herself a mental shake. Why did Lucifer’s face keep swimming into her mind? Anything other than friendship with him was deep in the past. The one time they had started to become close, he had run away and married a stripper.  _ Exotic dancer, _ his voice spoke inside her head.

   As though summoned up by her thoughts, the tall, handsome man appeared in front of her. “Good morning, detective,” he greeted her. “So how is the case this morning?”

   She indicated the board. “Ella’s about to give us a summary of the books,” she said.

   Ella appeared behind Lucifer’s shoulder. “Hi, Lucifer,” she said. “Hi, Chloe. How was your date last night?”

   Chloe tried to give Ella a pointed stare, but the forensic scientist seemed completely unaware as she shuffled the pieces of paper in her hand. Lucifer looked far too interested. “Yes, detective, how was your dinner with the lieutenant?” he asked.

   “It was very pleasant,” Chloe said. “And we have a case to solve. Dan, nice of you to join us. Ella?”

   Lucifer opened his mouth to say more, but Chloe ignored him and focused on Ella, who eagerly took the board marker and started to make notes. 

   “Names are unimportant,” she said, “because he will have changed any names in the books, but there are the usual characters you’d expect in a series of books in a high school - the mean girls, the high school jock, the creep…”

   “But no indication of who they’re based on?”

   Ella looked over her shoulder at them. “No, but I would imagine they’d be easy to work out,” she said. “And plots are the normal events in a high school - love triangles, power struggles, bullying, all that sort of thing.”

   “But no murder?” asked Lucifer.

   “No,” Ella confirmed. “No murder. An accident that was hard on the friends, but no other deaths.”

   Dan shuffled through his notes. “We have a list of the people Grand hung out with in the school,” he said. “There are about a dozen of them who went to most classes together, plus a few more that Grand would have known. Most of those listed here are planning to be at the reunion, so it should be the ideal place to chat to them and see if they know anything.”

   Chloe nodded. “So we’re going to attend the reunion and ask questions,” she said. “Dan, you’re working surveillance, right? And that leaves Lucifer and me as guests.”

   Lucifer swung round. “Now hold on,” he said. “You’re expecting me to attend one of these high school reunions? You must be joking.”

   “It will be a good experience for you,” Chloe told him with a grin. “And you know how good you are at getting people to talk.”

   Lucifer scowled. “I can think of nothing worse than a gathering of people who meet every ten years,” he said. “If you wanted to stay in touch with people, you’d see them more often than that.”

   Dan held out the school year book. “We need to get you in undercover,” he said. “There are a couple of people who qualify to attend but won’t be there.”

   He pulled up an image on the computer of a young woman with long blonde hair. “Chloe, this is yours,” he said. She nodded approvingly. There was even a faint resemblance between them.

   “And Lucifer - this is your cover, a guy named Todd Cornwell,” Dan continued, failing to suppress a grin. 

   Lucifer looked at the screen, where a chubby young man with dark hair and glasses was pictured. He shook his head. “You really are joking,” he said. “I can’t go as him. He looks like he’s never even kissed a girl.”

   “Maybe he was a late developer,” Chloe joked. She slipped her arm through Lucifer’s. “There’s a definite similarity. You could almost be twins.”

   She could feel the disgust emanating from him, and felt almost bad for him.

   Luckily Dan came to the rescue. “This photo was from ten years ago,” he pointed out. “Anyone would look different after that time. You’ll be fine.”

   They worked hard for the rest of the day, making preparations for the surveillance and infiltration of the event. Well, all apart from Lucifer, who sat shuffling papers and scowling occasionally at the picture of Todd Cornwell that Dan had left on display. Chloe kept a close eye on Pierce’s office, hoping for a word with him, but he had a day off booked, and to her disappointment he stayed away from the precinct. Apart from a text he had sent, thanking her for the pleasant evening, she heard nothing from him all day.

 


	4. Chapter 4

“So this is what the fuss is all about.” Lucifer did not bother to hide the disdain in his voice as they looked around them. On every side bodies gyrated to the loud music that pumped from the speakers, and balloons and streamers bobbed everywhere. “High school reunion is a popular torture in hell, you know.”

   Chloe glared at him.

   “What?” he said. “All those insecurities, all that comparing yourself to others, feeling ashamed of what you’ve failed to achieve, being convinced that everyone else has done far better, all the bad experiences revisited—”

   “All right, I get the point,” sighed Chloe. “We should split up. Go mingle, and see what you can find out.”

   He nodded.

   “And Lucifer? Behave yourself, please.”

   He raised an eyebrow at her. “Really, Detective? You’re telling the devil to behave?”

   Shaking her head, she made her way through the crowd, leaving him to stand by the food table, looking around him. He recognised a couple of faces from the year book, and made his way casually over. “Good evening, girls,” he said. “And how are you doing?”

   “Todd?” The blonde girl, who was wearing a nametag declaring her to be “Stacey”, looked shocked. “Todd Cornwell?”

   Lucifer groaned inwardly, remembering the cover story and the nametag he wore. “So it would appear,” he said, turning on the charm. “I’ve changed a lot over the past few years. While you - you don’t look a day older, Stacey darling.” The girl almost melted in front of him, and he felt a glow of satisfaction at her response. “And as for you, Tanessa - why, you look wonderful.” He turned to the taller brunette, who was simpering at him by now. It was too easy. He took both girls by the arm and led them off to a quieter corner, making sure he positioned himself so that he could see Chloe out of the corner of his eye. She was making her way through the crowd, a few words here, an inviting smile there. A man with dark hair was all over her, and she chatted to him for a minute or two before extricating herself and moving on. It took some effort for Lucifer to drag his attention back to the two girls in front of him.

   “So, girls, did you hear the news about Fabius Grand?” he asked.

   Stacey opened her eyes wide in fake shock. “We sure did!” she said. “Such a shame!”

   “Did you see much of him over the past few years?”

   Tanessa pulled a tragic face. “We saw him only last week,” she said. “We went to see him at his house. Just think - if the murderer had turned up a different day, we might have been killed too.”

   “Really?” Lucifer leaned forward to hear better over the crowd, placing his hand in the middle of her back. “And what did he want to see you about?” He scanned the room, checking on the detective, while pretending to pay the girls his full attention.

   “He wanted to discuss his latest project,” Tanessa said, flicking her long hair back and leaning into him. “He was asking what we remembered about Melba DelVecchio.”

   “About whom?”

   “You know,” Stacey prompted, playing with the stem of the wineglass she held, and gazing at him seductively. “That loser of a girl in our class. Don’t you remember? She tried to hang around with us for a while, but she was hopeless. Then she started going out with Jadon Sherrick. Just before she killed herself?”

   “Remind me,” Lucifer said smoothly, and listened as the two girls went into a story about a girl who sounded rather tragic. 

   “And then she started to date that loser, Jadon,” Tanessa said. “And a week later she took a massive overdose. It was such a shock.” She put her arm through Lucifer’s, and patted his shoulder. “Jadon pretended to be heartbroken, but to us he looked relieved to have escaped.”

   Stacey fluttered her eyelashes at him. “But let’s not waste time talking about such horrible things,” she said. “I can think of far better ways to spend the evening.”

   Lucifer extricated himself as smoothly as he could, and headed over towards Chloe, intent on passing the news on.

   “Okay, thanks,” she said when he told her about Melba DelVecchio. “I haven’t found anyone who admits to knowing Grand, but I’ve had around three invitations to dinner so far.”

   “Talking of which - how did you get on with Pierce last night?”

   She shook her head at him. “Lucifer, it was just a meal out, and it was fine, I told you,” she said. “No need to get jealous. We’re just friends, remember?”

   “Detective, you don’t understand who he is. I’m not—”

   But she had turned away from him and was back to scanning the room. With a sigh, Lucifer collected himself another glass of wine and allowed the girls to gather him up again. The things he put up with, for the sake of his partnership with Chloe! And he wouldn’t even be allowed to take the girls off for the night. Of course, a couple of years ago, he wouldn’t have let her disapproval stop him... 

   He turned his attention reluctantly away from Chloe and back to the girls, who started to regale him with memories of school. He responded in all the right places, while keeping an eye on Chloe on the other side of the room. She had started to talk to a short, plump man who was leaning close in to her. He was obviously after one thing, and Lucifer fought the desire to go over and thump him. Only the knowledge of the detective’s wrath kept him back. The man’s hand rested in the small of Chloe’s back, and then slid down further. Lucifer tensed, but Chloe sidestepped and then reached down, laughing, caught hold of the man’s hand and held it casually in both of hers, talking to him and tilting her head to one side alluringly as she did so. He had to admire her moves. She knew how to handle herself. Well, let’s face it, she’d managed to resist his charms so far, he reminded himself with a sigh.

   “So,” he said to the girls, in an effort to distract himself. “You say Melba was going out with Jadon Sherrick before she killed herself? Which one is he, remind me.”

   Tanessa turned and gazed around the room. “There he is, going off with that blonde,” she said, pointing to Chloe and the sleazy guy with her, who were about to leave the hall.

   Lucifer looked at the way Sherrick had his arm around Chloe’s waist again and anger rose in him at the man’s over-familiarity. He moved to intercept them and rescue her, but before he got halfway across the room another man appeared in front of them, blocking their way. He spoke to Sherrick, leaning in towards him, and then took Chloe’s arm and led her back towards the main hall, leaving a dejected Sherrick behind. Chloe looked up into the new man’s eyes, said something to him and then the pair of them laughed.

   Lucifer fought down the disturbed feeling that rose up inside as he saw the way that Chloe was talking to the new man.  _ It’s for the case _ , he reminded himself. But it was still hard to watch. He imagined her chatting that way with Pierce, and clenched his fists in anger.

*

Chloe kept an eye on Lucifer as she worked the room, chatting to everyone she could. She half expected to see him making out with one of the attractive girls who had attached themselves to him.  _ We’re just friends _ , she reminded herself.  _ And we’re both working here _ . But Lucifer seemed on his best behaviour for once, and she had to admire the way he had the girls eating out of his hands - literally, as he fed one a bite of sausage roll, amidst a great deal of laughter.

   She sighed and turned her attention back to the couple she was talking to. They had heard of Grand, and were proud that they were once at school together, but didn’t remember him from those days and hadn’t heard from him lately, and that was a familiar refrain from most people she chatted to.

   A short, plump man came up to her. “I don’t remember you,” he gushed, “and that’s a real shame, because I’m sure we’re made for each other.”

   Chloe resisted the temptation to roll her eyes. Instead, she greeted the man as though she had known him for years - so easy when everyone wore their names on a badge - and forced herself to make smalltalk and handle his casual groping, before getting to the only topic that interested her. 

   “Grand? Yeah, I remember him, of course,” the man, Jadon Sherrick, said eagerly. “I had a call from him a couple of weeks ago, wanted to catch up with me, chat about old times. He said he wanted to talk about Melba DelVecchio, the girl who killed herself. I was due to see him next week, but of course that won’t happen now.” 

   He looked strangely upset about it, she noticed. “What did you think of his books?”

   “Oh, I never read them.” Sherrick laughed it off. “Why would I? Silly high school days. Who cares?” But his bearing had become oddly stiff, and she sensed the question bothered him.

   “What do you remember of those days?” she asked conversationally.

   “Oh, very little, very little.”

   Chloe arranged her face into a sorrowful expression. “Such a pity. I’ve been having such fun trading memories.”

   “Ah well, if it’s trading memories you want, I’m sure I can arrange that. How about we go where it’s a little more quiet?” Sherrick put his arm around her and started to lead her towards the door. Chloe hesitated a moment, and then decided that with Dan listening in and Lucifer hovering nearby there was unlikely to be any danger. She allowed herself to be led out of the hall towards the lockers, but before they reached there a tall, blond man swept between them, neatly ousting Sherrick from his position beside her. “Becky!” he greeted her cheerfully, after a subtle glance at her name badge. “So good to see you again. We must catch up on all our news. Sorry to interrupt, Jadon, but I can’t wait to speak to Becky. It’s been so long.”

   Looking furious, but obviously not brave enough to stand up to the taller man, Sherrick retreated ungraciously, leaving Chloe with her rescuer, Eddie Kapell. She wondered briefly whether to brush off her rescuer and continue with Sherrick, but decided that there would be a chance to speak to him again later. In the meantime, Kapell seemed eager to chat with her, so she might as well take advantage of the fact. And the way he had jumped to the rescue of a stranger suggested that he might be one of those people who saw everything that happened around them and wasn’t afraid to act.

   Chloe glanced over towards where Lucifer had been standing, and was amused to see him staring towards her, with a face like thunder. Had he been about to rescue her? She felt both flattered and irritated at the way he played the protector. As if she couldn’t look after herself!

   She turned her attention back to Eddie Kapell. A few moments’ conversation revealed that he vaguely remembered Grand and hadn’t heard from him lately, but the name Melba DelVecchio had more success in unlocking his memory. “Ah yes, that poor girl,” he said with a sorrowful expression. “She was dating Jadon Sherrick, I believe.” He indicated with a dismissive gesture the plump man who was still watching them mournfully. “Poor girl. She was besotted with him. There was a rumour that he drove her to suicide.” He leaned in closer. “I did hear one story that there was a suicide pact, but he couldn’t go through with it at the last minute and left her to drink his poison as well,” he confided.

   “Really?” Chloe looked back at Sherrick thoughtfully. If the man had been implicated in Melba’s suicide years ago, then it probably wouldn’t be something he wanted brought up all these years later.

   She found an opportunity to chat to Lucifer, and told him what she had heard about Sherrick. “I’ll talk to him myself,” Lucifer said grimly, and she caught hold of his arm.

   “Lucifer, we’re working here,” she reminded him. “I don’t need you to protect me, I need you to focus on the case.”

   “Why does what happened back in high school matter anyway?” he asked quietly.

   “Grand was planning to tell a story in his next novel, one he felt was important. It’s very possible that whoever the story is about got wind of the plan and decided they didn’t want the story told,” she explained.

   He frowned. “Tanessa and Stacey say Grand wanted to discuss what they remembered about Melba’s death,” he said, looking over at the girls he had been chatting to.

   “Yes, he contacted Sherrrick with the same request,” she said. “And there might be others. Keep talking, see what else you can find out. I’ll go talk to Sherrick again.”

   “Oh no you don’t,” he protested. “I’ll talk to that sleazeball. Don’t you worry, Detective. I’m on it.”

   With a sigh, she watched him move purposefully across the crowded hall to where a dejected Sherrick had given up on chatting to another woman, who had brushed him off, and was aimlessly playing with a streamer, twirling it between his fingers.

*

Within a couple of minutes of starting to talk to Sherrick, Lucifer felt sorry for him. He mentioned the name Melba DelVecchio and the man looked like he was about to burst into tears. “I remember Melba,” he said. “Of course I do. She was the love of my life.”

   “Do you remember what happened to her?” 

   Sherrick waved his hand in the vague direction of the rest of the room. “They drove her to kill herself.”

   “They?” Lucifer turned to survey the room, trying to work out who Sherrick might have meant.

   “Those girls. Tanessa and Stacey. They think so much of themselves, but they drove Melba to kill herself. Them and that bastard Grand. My beautiful Melba.”

   Lucifer sighed and leaned towards him. “So you decided to have your revenge by killing Grand?”

   “What? No!” Sherrick’s eyes widened and he drew back in fear. “I could never kill anyone! I wish I had the guts to stand up to them, but I just stood back and let it happen.”

   Lucifer glanced over to where Chloe was deep in discussion with someone. He looked back at Sherrick. “So what is it you really desire?” He put all his focus into the question.

   Sherrick’s eyes glazed. “I want to have my beautiful Melba back,” he said. “Or at least to have her story told. Grand said he was going to do it. He said that she gave him his writing career, and he wanted to pay her back, to tell her story. I was going to see him next week, and tell him everything.”

   “Oh.” Lucifer stopped to think for a moment. “So you already knew what he wanted to write about and you agreed with it?”

   “Yes. He called me last week to talk about it.” Sherrick rubbed his face, looking close to tears. “I miss her so much. She affected all of us. And then she was gone. And it was all their fault.” He gestured again towards Tanessa and Stacey.

   “So there was no suicide pact between you?”

   “What?” Sherrick’s face twisted in horror, then he thought for a moment. “She said something about the three of them. The three girls were going to do it together. But they were joking, leading her on. And she was so genuine, she never understood they were just being mean. I guess when she learned they had been doing it just for a laugh, it was too much and she killed herself.”

*

A dance proved the perfect opportunity to exchange information with Lucifer. Chloe forced herself to ignore the sensation of pleasure at his gentle touch on her back and the warmth of his body and focus intently while Lucifer relayed what he had learned. “I think it’s time I went to talk to those girls,” she said.

   “Careful, detective. You are too nice for them. Please allow me.”

   She sighed and allowed him to approach them again. They welcomed him like an old friend, and he embraced them both, while Chloe watched from nearby. He whispered something into Tanessa’s ear and she blushed and then put her arms around his neck. Chloe felt a growing irritation as she watched them sway to the music. He dared make a fuss if she went for dinner with Pierce, and then flirted like this in front of her?

   It looked like he had completely forgotten why he was there with them, but just at the point Chloe was about to go over and join them, he got around to asking more about Melba, and Chloe leaned forward to listen intently, while pretending to be absorbed in studying the contents of her wine glass. “Jadon seems pretty cut up over Melba,” he said. “I’m afraid he seems to blame you two for her death.”

   “He said what?” Stacey shook her head. “That’s just stupid. We were her friends.”

   “He seems to think you were convincing her to kill herself.”

   Tanessa took a step back and dropped her hands to her sides. “We were all talking about killing ourselves,” she said. “We were all pretty miserable in high school. But we weren’t really serious about it, and of all of us, Melba had least reason to go through with it.”

   “Really? Why is that?’ Lucifer gazed into her eyes as though she were the only person in the room, and Chloe resisted the temptation to put her fingers down her throat. Lucifer in full seductive flow was at once fascinating and repulsive.

   “Well, she was up to win that prize.”

   “Prize? What prize?”

   “Ladies and gentleman, please gather round.”

   Chloe fought back a groan as conversation stopped all around her for the presentation of the prom king and queen. There was no more opportunity for discussion, and when she and Lucifer left the school at the end of the evening they had discovered no more.

   Trying not to yawn, Chloe said, “Goodnight, Lucifer, see you in the morning.”

   “Goodnight, Detective.” Lucifer looked over to where Stacey was standing.

   Chloe dug him in the ribs. “No making out with suspects, remember,” she warned.

   “Surely they’re not still suspects?”

   “Lucifer, it looks like the killer is someone who was caught up in the suicide. We need to consider them all suspects until proven otherwise. And it’s late. Go home and get some sleep. We’ll pick this up tomorrow.”

   She watched him walk away, and shook her head in despair. What was going on with him?

 


	5. Chapter 5

“So, where are we?” Chloe looked around at the assembled team. Lucifer, of course, Ella, and Dan. She had hoped Pierce would take an interest in the case, but she’d barely seen him since their meal. He’d complained about a pile of paperwork that morning and that had been about it.

   Dan indicated the board. “It seems pretty clear that the murder of Grand relates to his intention to write about the death of Melba DelVecchio, back in high school. We’re working on the assumption that someone didn’t want the story dragged up and killed him to prevent it. We’re looking into the alibis of those that you and Lucifer chatted with last night, but it appears there are four main suspects.”

   Chloe nodded and took over, summarizing for the benefit of the others. “We have the two girls, Tanessa and Stacey.” She indicated the two photos and tried to ignore the smug expression on Lucifer’s face as he recalled his evening.  “It’s not clear what their relationship with Melba was, but both report that Grand spoke to them about writing Melba’s story. There’s some talk of them being involved in Melba’s suicide, either as part of a suicide pact that only Melba went through with, or as bullies who drove her to it.”

   “Lovely women,” Lucifer interrupted. “But ruthless with it. I wouldn’t trust either of them further than I can—”

   Chloe glared at him. “And Jadon Sherrick,, she continued, before he could launch into a description of what he might want to do to them. “He went out with Melba just before she killed herself. He’s a pretty unsavoury character, and it’s entirely possible that he broke her heart with the way he treated her.”

   “Oh, I disagree.” Lucifer again. “He’s a bit of a sad man, agreed, but he adored her. He wouldn’t have intentionally hurt her, and he seems to feel his life is far poorer without her. I think the reason he’s so sad is because he’s constantly thinking back to what might have been, instead of getting on with his life. Maybe if he’d been honest with Melba about how much he cared about her, she might not have killed herself.” An expression she couldn’t identify flickered across his face.

   “But so far we’ve not been able to find any alibi for him,” Dan pointed out.

   Lucifer scowled. “That only means we haven’t been able to prove he didn’t do it,” he pointed out. “It doesn’t prove he did do it.”

   Chloe nodded. “Agreed,” she said. “At the moment we need to keep our options open and investigation all suspects.”

   “So who’s the fourth?” Ella asked. “The two mean girls, the creep - any sign of the high school jock?”

   “A man by the name of Eddie Kapell,” Chloe said, adding another photo to the board. “Of all the people we met, he is the most successful. A good education, went on to work as a research chemist in the top laboratory in the country. From what I heard, it was tuition from Melba that started him on the way to achieving all that. He and Grand are the two from the school who made the best of their lives afterwards, and yet most at the school seemed to think he would head for a sports career.”

   “Underestimated,” Lucifer said. “It’s so common. They think someone’s good for nothing except physical prowess, and never give him a chance to really prove himself.”

   “An interesting theory,” Chloe agreed, nodding reluctantly. “But he seemed a genuinely nice guy.”

   Lucifer scoffed. “He took advantage of you.”

   “He rescued me from Sherrick, who had his hands all over me.”

   “Exactly. He waited until you were at a disadvantage and then stepped in as the white knight on a steed to rescue the poor helpless princess.”

   “Lucifer, will you please focus on the case and stop being jealous that Kapell rescued me and you didn’t?” As flattering as his concern might be, it could also get rather overbearing. “And for the record, I didn’t actually need rescuing.”

   “Oh, very well.” He gave a deep sigh, as though he was the one being wronged. “But I still don’t trust the man.”

   “One thing that struck me,” said Dan, “and that’s what Tanessa said about Melba having least reason to kill herself out of all of them. She said something about a prize.”

   “Yes.” Ella held up a piece of paper. “I’ve been doing some background reading, and it appears there was a big academic prize on offer - basically it would have provided the winner with a top education. There were three main contenders - Melba, Kapell and Grand.”

   “So what happened?” Dan took the paper and scanned it.

   “Well, Melba killed herself, Grand had a total breakdown and Kapell won it. That award was what transformed his entire career.”

   “So Grand missed out? No wonder he wanted to write the story of the woman who ruined his life,” Lucifer said. 

   Chloe sighed. “I’ve been reading up on Grand,” she said. “He said he’d never really considered being an author until a tragedy in high school drove him to therapy. While there, writing about his feelings and experiences affected him so strongly that he started to write about his experiences in high school, turning them into stories. That’s what gave him his career.”

   “So Melba’s death was the making of him too? What’s the story in that?” Lucifer sounded disgusted with the whole affair. “This is boring. Who would want to read about that sort of thing?”

   “Lots of people, apparently,” Chloe pointed out. 

   “Okay, let’s continue background checks on our four suspects and see what we can find out,” said Dan, and Chloe nodded. Much as she hated the deskwork, more cases were broken by ploughing through paperwork than by chasing people and waving guns at them.

   “Oh dear, I’m sure I’ve got something I need to do,” said Lucifer, looking around him vaguely. 

   With a shrug, Chloe remembered the last time Lucifer had tried to tackle paperwork. Maybe it was a good idea for him to stay away from the files. “We’ll call you if we find anything,” she said.

*

Paperwork. Why did they always have this ridiculous idea that crimes could be solved by reading about them? Lucifer was a man of action; try something, see if it worked. If it failed, it would at least lead to another idea. Talking of which… He wandered across the office and spotted Pierce sitting at his desk. It had been a while since he’d last managed to talk to him. He turned the door handle and walked in.

   Pierce looked up, an expression of irritation on his face that turned to anger when he saw who was interrupting him. “I told you, I’ve got nothing to say to you,” he said.

   “Now, now,” Lucifer soothed. “You can’t just ignore me, Pierce. You need me.”

   “No I don’t.” Pierce scowled. “You’ve done nothing, Lucifer. You’re all talk. You’re just as stuck as I am. And I don’t have the patience for that anymore.”

   “Don’t have the patience? Oh come now, it’s not as though you’re running out of time, is it?”  He was trying his best, but what Lucifer was really running out of was ideas. The only ones that had come to him lately were connected to his vulnerability with Chloe, and that was one direction he was determined not to go in.

   Pierce stood up and walked round the desk, to stand toe to toe with Lucifer. “Maybe you’re right,” he said. “Maybe what I really need to do is learn to enjoy life again. To set down roots.”

   If those roots included Chloe… A few months ago, Lucifer’s eyes would have flashed with anger, but thanks to dear old Dad that option was gone. He clenched his jaw and drew himself up. “Leave the detective alone.”

   Pierce smirked. “Why, is she yours? I thought you’d given up on her. I thought she scared you so much you ran off and got married to someone else. Just because you don’t want her, doesn’t mean she’s not allowed anyone else in her life. Allow the woman to move on without you.”

   Lucifer took a step towards him, clenching his fists. “She’s not interested,” he said. “She doesn’t deserve to be used by you. Or anyone. She’s a good person.”

   “And I’m not? Can’t a person change in a few millennia? Do you think I’ve learned nothing in all my time? I know how to treat a lady. Unlike others, for example  _ you _ .”

   The flame of anger extinguished, Lucifer turned away and thrust his hands in his pockets. “I know how to treat her,” he said quietly. “Why do you think I’m staying away from her?”

   “The devil is being noble and protecting his lady?” Pierce mocked. “How good of you, Lucifer.”

   “If you—”

   The conversation was interrupted as Chloe entered the room. “Sorry to cut in, Lieutenant, but I need Lucifer.”

   Lucifer could not resist a smirk in Pierce’s direction.

   “We may have made a breakthrough in the case.”

*

“Hey guys.” Ella was bouncing on her toes, desperate to share her news with the others. “I’ve found something rather interesting.”

   “Well go on, spill the beans,” said Chloe, smiling at her. 

   Ella forced herself to calm down, but the news was bubbling out of her. “I think we’ve uncovered a murder.”

   The news didn’t have the effect she had expected. Chloe just sighed. “Yes, Ella, Grand was murdered,” she agreed.

   “Unless anyone was suggesting that he picked up the typewriter and threw it at his own head,” Lucifer added helpfully. “Or maybe he had stored it on a high shelf and it fell as he picked it up—”

   “No!” Ella waved her hands in the air, nearly taking the end of Dan’s nose off with the edge of a sheet of paper. “I don’t mean Grand’s murder. Of course that was a murder. That typewriter is heavy. It would need someone strong to pick it up and whack him with that force.”

   Chloe took her gently by the elbows. “Calm down, then, Ella, and explain what you mean,” she said.

   Ella took a deep breath and glanced down at the papers again, reassuring herself that her figures were right. “Melba DelVecchio,” she said.

   “Killed herself by swallowing poison,” Dan nodded. 

   “No!” Ella jabbed at the paper with her finger. “That’s just it. The quantity of poison she had swallowed - that stuff is nasty. I mean, really nasty. It would knock her out at once. There’s no way she could have swallowed that quantity without help. Whoever did the original autopsy bodged the cause of death completely.”

   Chloe frowned. “Are you saying that someone forced her to drink it?”

   “I’m saying that someone would have had to more or less pour it down her throat,” Ella confirmed. “It’s strong stuff, but it knocks you out fast. It’s not often used for suicide, because it’s just so difficult to swallow enough to kill you before passing out.”

   She watched in triumph as the team exchanged glances. “So if Melba’s death was murder and not suicide, then it’s even more understandable that whoever was involved didn’t want her story told,” said Chloe.

   “Yes, and it’s even more than that,” Ella agreed. “The poison is a restricted item - there aren’t many places to get hold of it outside a chemical lab or maybe school lab.” She waited for the penny to drop. “And guess who the chemistry student in the group is?”

   Chloe checked the details on the board. “Eddie Kapell majored in chemistry, following this academic prize,” she said. “And with Melba and Grand both out of the way, the prize was his.”

   Lucifer studied the board for a minute. “And Kapell was the only one of the group who denied knowing that Grand was writing about Melba’s death,” he said. “Why would he deny that, unless he was desperate not to be linked with the case?”

   “I guess we know where to go next,” Chloe said, and Ella watched with a sigh as the detective and Lucifer grabbed their things and headed out. Why was it she got to do all the science and research bits and they got to do the exciting parts? Maybe she was in the wrong job.

   She read through the papers again and thought about the force needed to pick up and hurl the typewriter. On second thoughts, that side of the job could be dangerous. Maybe she was better off working the science angle, after all. 

*

Lucifer scowled as they entered Kapell’s house. Why did Chloe always have to insist on taking the lead? She had no idea what he was actually capable of.  _ That’s your fault _ , the voice in his head reminded him.  _ You’ve never given her a chance to prove herself with the truth. _

   Kapell recognised them from the previous night’s adventures and offered them a drink, but Chloe refused, straight to the point as usual, flashing her badge. “Tell us about Melba DelVecchio and the prize you were both in the running for.”

   “I don’t know what you’re talking about, and I’ve got nothing to say to the police.” He turned his back on them.

   “Oh, I believe you do,” Chloe insisted. Lucifer admired her style as she demanded Kapell’s attention. “She died, Grand went into therapy and you got the prize that set you up for life.”

   “Oh, that.” Kapell did his best to sound casual,pouring himself another glass of whiskey. 

   “So what happened?” Chloe asked. “You took out your biggest rival? Forced poison down her throat?”

   “She was poison. She destroyed anything that she touched. All she wanted was to die, and she didn’t care who she dragged down with her.” He whirled back around to face them, and his expression was thunderous.

   “But she didn’t take that fatal dose all by herself, did she?” Chloe said.

   “What are you talking about? Melba’s death was years ago. Don’t you have more important things to do?” Kapell took a gulp of his whiskey, and Lucifer licked his lips in envy. He could do with a drink right now.

   “We’re investigating the death of Fabius Grand,” Chloe said. “And we believe he was killed to stop him telling Melba’s story. If Melba was killed, rather than the suicide everyone believed her death to be, that gives her killer a big motive to stop Grand writing about her.”

   “Grand was a fool. They all were. They were so cut up about her death. Didn’t they understand it was what she wanted? That prize would have been wasted on her. Look what she did to Sherrick. She played him for a fool, and he would have given her anything. And now look at them - all stuck in the past. Sherrick heartbroken, Grand obsessed with a dead woman. She’s dead, and she still manages to control them. Why couldn’t they just let go and get on with their lives? And instead they have this secret eating away at them.”

   Lucifer glanced at Chloe, who was listening intently. Those poor fools, he thought. And yet Kapell’s words affected him, and he didn’t understand why. He took a step away, trying to process his thoughts. Dragged down by someone who wanted to kill themselves. In a rush he remembered Pierce. Now there was someone bent on self-destruction. Who would he manage to drag down with him?

   Chloe was questioning Kapell further, but all Lucifer could think of was how she would be affected if Pierce achieved his aim. He felt his blood run cold as his brain took the thought further: Pierce didn’t care who he destroyed in the process.

   But Chloe wouldn’t take his warning seriously, because she didn’t believe he really was the devil, and thought he was just jealous. Now that was a secret hanging over both their heads. What would she say if she really knew?

   Most importantly, would she then take his warning seriously?

   Unable to bear his thoughts any longer, Lucifer stepped towards Kapell. “So what do you really desire?” he demanded, putting all his power into the compulsion.

   Kapell stared at him, mesmerised. “I want it all to go away. I wish I’d never met Melba. I wish we’d all been able to resist her charms. She set something in action all those years ago, and the effects have never ended.”

   “So you did help her on her way?”

   “I knew she hadn’t taken a big enough dose to be fatal. I just helped her to achieve what she wanted. I didn’t realise just how bad the fallout would be.”

   “And Grand?”

   “He was going to rake it all up again. It was over and done with. Why couldn’t he just leave it alone? All those years he spent agonising over it. Over her. She ruined all our lives.”

   “And so you hit him over the head.”

   “I didn’t mean to kill him. I just wanted to stop him from dragging up the past.”

   “Maybe telling the truth would have been the first step towards recovery for all of them,” Chloe said. The words struck home to Lucifer.  _ Telling the truth _ .

   Lucifer was silent in the car on the way back to the precinct, with Kapell in handcuffs on the back seat, but he was thinking hard. As he parted from Chloe and her prisoner, he touched her gently on the arm. “Detective - I’ve been thinking.”

   She raised an eyebrow, and he hurried on before she could come up with a smart remark. “About telling the truth. I think it’s time I was completely honest with you. I nearly told you before, but - well, events got away with me, and the chance was lost. But please, come to my place when you’re done and I promise that I’ll tell you the whole truth.”

   “Everything?”

   “Everything. It’s a deal, Detective.”

   She looked at him closely, but he would say nothing more. She nodded, and then turned to speak to the officer on the desk. Taking the opportunity, Lucifer slipped away. The decision had been made. Whatever happened, he would prove to Chloe who he was. That was the only fair way to go.

   He pushed down the feeling that rose up inside him. It couldn’t be fear. He was the devil, dammit! Why should he feel concerned about what a mere human might think of him?

 


	6. Chapter 6

By the time Chloe was finished with the paperwork for the arrest, it was already close to growing dark. She had been thinking about Lucifer’s promise all afternoon. He had promised to tell her the whole truth. But what did that even mean? 

   Could he be the devil? Her mind shied away from considering that question, but it was always hovering there somewhere. Sometimes she felt desperate to know; at other times, she dreaded the thought of finding out. It was comforting, somehow, to have that question hanging over her. 

   And now she would finally know, and that terrified her.

   What if the truth was that he was an ordinary man? Someone with big problems, obviously. Someone who hated his real life so much that he preferred to identify with the devil. Or, worse, wasn’t in control of his own identity. Where would their relationship go from there?

   What if the truth was that he was the devil himself?

   Her heart was beating fast as she waited for the elevator doors to open. She tried to contain her fear, to tell herself that he would probably not even be there. Last time he had promised to tell the truth, he had disappeared for two days and then turned up with some elaborate story about being kidnapped. The story had turned out to be the truth, but just how much of it was designed as a distraction, she still wasn’t sure. And then he had sat her down in Ella’s lab and she had thought he was going to tell her then, but he had done nothing.

   She could still remember the look of fear on his face, to be replaced by a look of distress. What had he expected would happen?

   Her mind jumped to that point in the warehouse, where he had demanded she shoot him. He had looked truly shocked when the bullet had hurt him, as though he really believed he was immortal.

   The doors dinged and slid open, and she stepped out. For a heartbeat she thought he had disappeared again, but the clink of glass alerted her, and she turned to see him standing at the bar, pouring a couple of drinks. “Good evening, Detective,” he greeted her, holding out a glass. 

   Her legs felt a little unsteady, and her head was spinning. “I shouldn’t be drinking,” she said uncertainly.

   He held up his own glass. “Well, if you don’t want one, I certainly do.”

   She tried to smile, and took the drink. The first sip burned her throat, and she watched in fascination as Lucifer downed the rest of his glass and poured himself another. How could he do that? 

_    Because he’s the devil. _

_    Because he’s crazy. _

   She took another sip, trying to calm her thoughts. “You said you were going—”

   “To tell you the truth. Yes. Shall we sit down?” He indicated the balcony, where two chairs sat facing the setting sun. She nodded and walked out into the fresh air, looking down for a minute to where the cars raced along the road far below in the gloom. When she turned, Lucifer was sitting on one of the chairs, but while his posture looked relaxed, the expression on his face was taut, watching her closely.

   She sat, turning her body towards him, and waited for him to speak. He seemed in no hurry, making a point of enjoying every mouthful of his drink. In the end, she was the one to break the silence. “You wanted to tell me something?”

   He took a deep breath. “I owe you a proper explanation, Detective. I’ve always told you the truth, but I know it’s not easy to believe, and I’ve never offered you any kind of proof.”

   Chloe felt dizzy, and it wasn’t just the effect of the whiskey. “Horns and a tail?”

   Lucifer laughed. “I told you, they’re just myths. No, no horns or tail.” The expression on his face grew serious. “And I can’t show you my devil face, either, thanks to my father. I tried once, that time in Ella’s lab, and that’s when I discovered he’d taken it from me.”

   “Your devil face?” The room spun a little around her as she sought to understand his words and their implication. This was all an elaborate joke.  

   “Haven’t you wondered why people sometimes cower from me in fear?”

   That moment in the warehouse. She thought she’d imagined it… “It doesn’t involve flashing eyes, does it?”

   His face flickered in amusement. “It can do.”

   She nodded, gazing into her nearly empty glass to avoid his gaze, and her mind raced. “But you’re really the devil.” She wasn’t sure whether she was supposed to believe him or not. It was impossible, of course. And yet...

   “Yes.” He hesitated, and then went on. “It’s probably just as well - do you remember that time around a year ago, when I said I thought I’d broken my therapist?” She nodded. “I showed her my devil face. She said she had to know the truth, in order to treat me properly.”

   “But she saw it, and she’s okay with it.” Chloe wasn’t sure whether she was asking him or telling him. The moment felt unreal, as though she were dreaming, and she placed her glass on the nearby table and pinched the skin on her wrist. 

   “It took a while, but yes.” He leaned forward to place his own glass down. “She’s the only human who knows the truth. I must admit, it’s refreshing to be able to talk honestly to her and be believed.”

   Chloe gazed up to the sky, unwilling to look at him. She wanted so much to ask him for the proof he had mentioned, but still something inside her held back, fearing to put him on the spot. If it wasn’t true, what would the effect be on their friendship? And if it was true… She clung to that tidbit - Doctor Linda knew the truth, and was still friends. There was a way to move forward.

   Eventually, he gave a deep sigh and stood up. He took a couple of steps away from her, as though pacing, and then turned to face her. “So,” he said. “Your proof.” His expression was hard to read, his face in shadow apart from the flickering of the flames that always burned in one corner of the balcony, but his eyes were fixed steadily on her face. She swallowed hard, feeling his tension. What did he expect from her? How did he want her to react?

   “I’m ready,” she said softly.

   “Are you really? Because once I do this, there’s no going back.”

   She nodded, although she wasn’t sure.

   “Very well—”

   “Good evening.”

   They both reacted in shock as the voice spoke from just inside the apartment. Pierce stood there, an amused expression on his face. 

   “What are you doing here?” Lucifer took a furious step towards him, and then restrained himself and forced a tight smile. Chloe looked from one to the other, confused. Was this a set-up? She had been so sure Lucifer was going to show her the proof he’d promised, although she had no idea what form that might take. But he didn’t seem pleased to see Pierce.

   “I thought I’d come and see how you were,” Pierce said casually. “Chloe, would you like to go somewhere for a drink? I’m much better company than this guy.”

   “Stay out of it!” Lucifer snapped. “I’m about to prove to her who I really am.” 

   “That’s not a good idea.” Pierce’s eyes flashed in anger. Whatever Lucifer had been about to do or say - did Pierce know about it? How did that make sense? How did any of this make sense?

   “She needs to understand just what your agenda is,” Lucifer insisted. “Detective - this man is dangerous. You have to believe me. Just like that girl we’ve just been investigating in all that high school hogwash, the only thing he wants is to die, and he’s not bothered about who he destroys in the process.”

   Chloe sighed. “Lucifer, I thought we were over this,” she pleaded. “What have you got against Pierce?”

   She looked at the lieutenant for support, but he sighed deeply. He was staring at Lucifer, although his words seemed directed at her. “You’d better believe it, because it’s all true.”

   Lucifer glared at Pierce. “If you hurt her…” Just for a moment, Chloe could have sworn she saw a flash of light in his eyes. But it must have been the light from the flames. She blinked.

   “You’ll what? Kill me? That’s the aim, remember?” Pierce’s voice had a strange note in it. “It seems you need reminding of what you’re supposed to be working on.”

   “I’m doing what I can,” Lucifer snapped.

   “Maybe you need a little more motivation.”

   Feeling uneasy, Chloe looked from one man to the other. What was going on? She took a step backwards, and found her movement blocked by the balcony rail. 

   Pierce moved towards her, still looking at Lucifer. “Come on, Chloe, let’s get out of here,” he said, holding out a hand.

   She shook her head, suddenly wary of him. She glanced from him to Lucifer and back again. “What’s going on?” she demanded.

   “Chloe, go home,” Lucifer said, without looking around. “I need to deal with this.” He stepped towards Pierce, and the two men stood just a few inches apart. 

   “No,” she said, fighting to control her breathing. “I’m not going until…” She couldn’t finish the sentence. It sounded stupid, and she couldn’t talk about it in front of Pierce.

   Pierce looked directly at her for the first time. “Until what?” he mocked. “Lucifer is right, it’s time you left this place.” And he sidestepped Lucifer and charged directly at her, his shoulder hitting her in the chest and swinging her backwards. The rail at her back held her for a second, but Pierce was determined, and she could not stop him as he dived headfirst over the balcony and took her with him. 

   She screamed.

*

In the first heartbeat, Lucifer understood that Pierce had decided that destroying Chloe would either bring about his own death or would spur Lucifer on to focus solely on the task of killing him. In the next heartbeat, he understood that his father had given him wings and made him accept them so that he could act. And in the third heartbeat he was diving off the balcony, his wings unfurling behind him in an instinctive action, as he plunged his fist into Pierce’s face and snatched Chloe from his arms.

   For a moment, he feared that he had forgotten how to use his wings; unused muscles screamed in protest as he forced the wings through the air, all the while fighting with a struggling Chloe who didn’t know what was happening, didn’t understand he was there to rescue her.

   And then he felt the rhythm again, felt his body relax into the familiar movements, and he adjusted his grip on Chloe so that he could speak in her ear. “I’ve got you, detective, you’re safe.”

   She froze in his arms, and then twisted to look at him. Her gaze took in his face, and then slipped past his ear to the wings pumping behind him. Her face was a mask of astonishment. And then he landed back on the balcony and put her down. She clung to him for a few seconds, and he murmured reassuringly, allowing her to hold tight to him. And then she regained her balance and stepped away, still staring in wonderment at him, at his wings.

   He rolled his shoulders, tucking the wings away, and she blinked. “You have wings,” she said.

   He nodded.

   “You said you cut your wings off. You have wings.”

   “When I was kidnapped and left in the desert - they were back. And now if I cut them off they grow back again.” He glanced skywards. “I guess now I know why He wanted me to have them back.”

   “He?”

   “My father,” he reminded her patiently.

   “Your… oh, right.” Chloe’s face changed. “Pierce!”

   Lucifer shrugged, hearing screams from below. “He’ll be okay.”

   “Lucifer - he fell off your balcony. He’ll be killed!”

   “He jumped off the balcony, and tried to take you with him. I told you, detective, he wants to die. But he can’t. My father cursed him, and now he’s doomed to walk the earth forever, and he’s seeking a way to die.”

   Chloe stared at him. “That makes no sense.”

   He just waited patiently.

   “Oh. Your wings. You’re an angel!”

   “I’m the devil, Detective. Come on, catch up.”

   “And Pierce is immortal.”

   “He’s fully human. But yes, he’s severely lacking in the mortality department.” Lucifer strode to the bar and poured them both a generous glass of whiskey. Chloe took hers and sipped it, staring at him. He endured her gaze as patiently as he could. At least she wasn’t gibbering, or screaming, or running away from him. That was a good sign at least.

   “You have wings. You really have wings. You can fly.”

   He shrugged his wings into sight again, allowing her to stretch out a hand and feel the feathers. Her face was full of wonder as she ran her hands along one wing, and he shivered with delight at the touch. 

   “It’s all real.”

   Tucking his wings away again, Lucifer swallowed a mouthful of whiskey. “I told you, detective, I don’t lie.”

   “And Pierce isn’t dead.”

   “If he is, then he’ll be happy, because that’s been his aim all along. He came here to find you, because he heard that you make the devil bleed.”

   “I make…” Her voice trailed off, and she shook her head. She turned her head away, looking around the penthouse, and made her way unsteadily to a chair, resting her head in her hands. “It’s too much. I can’t take it all in.”

   Lucifer gazed steadily at the woman sitting in front of him. He had shown her proof that he was the devil, and she was still there, talking to him. It was a promising start. “You must have lots of questions.”

   “Not really.” She shook her head. “Not now. I will, when I’ve had a chance to take it all in, but right now…”

   “Talk to Doctor Linda,” Lucifer suggested. “She knows the truth. She’ll help you understand it all.”

   Chloe nodded. “That’s a good idea. I think I’ll head over there now. I just… I can’t handle it all right now, Lucifer, I’m sorry.”

   Disappointed, he nodded. “Of course, Detective. I’ll be here, when you’re ready to talk further.”

   “Thank you.” She stood and walked to the elevator. “Oh, and Lucifer - thank you for saving my life.”

   He remained where he was, thinking about that look he had seen in her eyes as the doors closed. Was that fear? In the end, he had had no choice; he had had to reveal his true being or allow her to die. And for that he hated Pierce.

*

In her office, Linda was talking to Amenadiel. “We have to stop doing this.”

   “I agree,” he answered, nuzzling her ear.

   She pushed him away gently. “Stop it, Amenadiel, you know it’s not fair on Maze.”

   “She had her chance. She ended our relationship by trying to kill me,” he pointed out, not unreasonably.

   “But I don’t think the fault was all on one side,” Linda answered patiently. “And I think we should respect her feelings and wait until she’s feeling stronger, more able to deal with this.”

   Amenadiel snorted. “She’s very strong. And she won’t deal with it any differently if we wait a week, a year or a century.”

   Linda took his hand and stroked it with her thumb. “Mena, I know,” she said. “But she’s my friend, and she’s your friend, and I think we just need to give her a little space.”

   He sighed. “I don’t want to hurt her,” he admitted. “But why should we have to suffer, just because the demon can’t move on?”

   Linda melted under his gaze, and put her arms around his neck. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I wish it was different. I wish we could celebrate our relationship in the open, instead of hiding it like this.”

   As Amenadiel leaned over to enfold her in a passionate kiss, the door opened. Linda froze as Maze stalked into the room. “I knew it!” the demon screamed. “You promised me you wouldn’t do this!” From her belt, she drew the daggers that she always carried. Linda recognised them as the curved, feather-design daggers that Amenadiel had told her were forged in hell. She put herself between the demon and the angel, smiling internally at the mental image that conjured up. “Maze, use your words, not knives, remember,” she warned.

   Maze scowled at her. “I should kill you both,” she said.

   “Now, Maze—” Linda glanced around, startled, as she heard a noise at the door. Expecting to see one of her fellow doctors, she was shocked to see Chloe standing there, her eyes open wide.

   “Chloe!” Linda tried to brush off the fact that Amenadiel and Maze were squaring off to each other behind her, Maze still threatening them both with the knives. The two of them turned to look at the newcomer, and Linda saw Maze struggle to control her fury in front of her friend.

   Chloe looked from one to the other, and then at Linda. “I spoke to Lucifer,” she said. “It’s all real. Lucifer really is the devil. And Amenadiel? And Maze is a demon… Oh God, my roommate is a demon.”

   She fled, as Linda watched in dismay.

   Maze glared at Amenadiel. “Now look what you’ve done,” she fumed, and tucking her knives away, she ran after Chloe.

*

The next morning, Lucifer was trying to decide whether it would be a good idea to call Chloe, when the elevator dinged. He turned to greet the visitor, hoping it was the detective, but it was Dan. Lucifer checked the elevator behind him, but he was alone. And it appeared he was furious. “Where is she?” he demanded.

   Lucifer frowned. “Where’s who? What’s going on?”

   “Chloe. Maze says she’s gone. She packed up and left, and took Trixie with her. And Maze says it’s all your fault.”

   Lucifer felt a chill grip his heart. “She’ll be back, Dan,” he said. “She just needs some time to think some things through, to understand. As soon as she’s processed some - stuff - she’ll be back.”

   But as he stared at Dan’s worried face, he hoped he was right.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was a fascinating exercise to write this story and then watch the episode. I learned a lot in the process, and grew to admire the writers for the way they juggle all the characters and storylines.  
> The second part of this story is told in Guardian Devil.


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